A Shift In Blogs

Just a quick post...I know it's been a while. I wanted to let you know that I haven't completely abandoned blogging I've just been re-thinking my approach. I've found that I love posting about food and recipes I've been cooking, and wish to continue, but I also have so many other things I want to blog about too. So I am moving to a new blog where I will be blogging about a wider range of topics that interest me like fashion, make up, friends, life and of course food.

Any recipes or food posts will be now incorporated into that blog so if you wish to check it out here's the link: http://gisforgalore.blogspot.com/

Hope you will enjoy this new direction as much as I expect to.

Chocolate Banana Bread

I don't think I am capable of getting through a bundle of bananas. There always manages to be one or two that start to go before I can get to them. Good thing my freezer is kind enough to keep them ready for future banana bread endeavors.

I really like banana bread. It's probably one of the things I've baked the most. In addition to using up my not-so-ripe bananas, it's also really delicious. Dense bread with moist hunks of banana and maybe a swipe of butter while it's still warm. Oh my...heaven! I have a few go to recipes for a more traditional bread. But my all time favourite is my Chocolate Banana Bread recipe. It makes a really tall and super yummy loaf and usually leaves me with enough batter for some large muffins (pictured in this post) as well.

The key to this bread, for me, is that I replaced the walnuts it called for with white chocolate chips. In my opinion this makes it ten times better. But my opinion always calls for more chocolate, so it can't completely be trusted.

Chocolate Banana Bread

• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk, soured (mix 1 TBSP vinegar with 1 cup milk; let stand 5 minutes)
• 1 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan.

In a bowl beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in bananas, eggs and vanilla.

In a separate bowl combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Alternately stir into banana mixture: 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of milk.

Pour into loaf pan, filling it 3/4's of the way full. This bread tends to rise a lot and may overflow if pan is filled to high. Use any left over batter for muffins if you want.

Bake for 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Teriyaki Chicken Wings

Oh goodness, I misplaced my camera for a little while so I was unable to capture the food I have been making. Unfortunately that included my blogversary party. I also seem to have a touch of spring fever and would rather be outside then in front of my computer. My blog isn't taking it very well, in fact I think we're fighting. Perhaps these Teriyaki Chicken Wings will cheer it up?

This is yet another recipe that I have acquired from my Mother. It's been around for quite a few years and happens to be one of my Father's favourite dishes. He frequently pulls the bowl, full of sticky delicious wings, in front of him plops one or two on my plate then announces that the rest are for him. With these wings there are never leftovers.

That Mother of mine, she seems to be the master of finding simple and yummy recipes that everyone loves. I've come to the decision that I want to be just like her when I grow up.


I have it on good authority that these wings will be making an appearance at my parents house for dinner this weekend...and I didn't even have to ask for them.

Teriyaki Chicken Wings

• 3 1/2 lbs Chicken Wings
• Oil
• 2 TBSP Water
• 1 tsp Ground Ginger
• 1/2 cup Mild Soy Sauce
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/2 cup Sugar

Cut wings into 3 pieces, discarding the tip. Place into a large skillet and brown in oil.

Add water; cover and steam for 10 - 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine ginger, soy sauce, garlic and sugar. Pour over wings. Cook for 3/4 hour until tender and sauce is thickened.

Makes 6-8 servings (unless you have a very hungry father then you're lucky to get 4)

Winter Fruit Crisp...For Those Cold Sunday Mornings

I have been busy menu planning for an upcoming dinner party. My little blog is turning one this weekend and I am having some of my friends over to celebrate. I will fill all 7 of you readers in (most of which will be at the dinner but *shrug*) Next week. Meanwhile I wanted to share my fruit crisp with you.

Sometimes all you need is a really good crisp. I mean really, think about it...breakfast, afternoon snack, dessert? When you want something warm, comforting and little sweet that won't immediately make your thoughts stray to the gym to work it off. The answer is fruit crisp.

Well at least MY answer is fruit crisp. I still tell myself that it's completely healthy even if my brown sugar to oats ratio is a little ridiculous. Or the fact that I may occasionally add sugar to the fruit as well...

...or maybe that I add a healthy dollop or two of ice cream, whipped cream or whatever I have on hand to the top of the warm crisp.

Mmmmm....crisp. This particular crisp was just a simple mix of apples, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and blackberries. I tossed them together in a bowl and put them in a oven proof dish sprinkles some oats, brown sugar and cinnamon on top and baked until warm and gooey. What's simpler then that?

A First Foray Into Fondont

Everywhere I look lately I see fondont. Blog posts, bakeries, and all over television. For the last little while I've been saying to myself "man I gotta try that!". And after much talking and thinking, I've finally ventured into the wonderful world of fondont. Another thing to check off my to do list.

Kristine (also known as "my brothers girlfriend" but we try to call her by her actual name every now and then) messaged me a little while ago to inform me of a recent purchase of hers. She had scored a really neat cake decorating book that takes you through all the different ways you can work with fondont and gum paste. Naturally it was up to the two of us to test out this book.

We gathered on a Saturday. We stirred, baked, rolled and decorated to our hearts content. And even though my cakes may not have been decorating perfection...I loved them anyway. It probably helped that they were delicious.

A few points that we learned about cake decorating:
1) There is a lot of waiting involved if you do not make your cakes ahead of time. So bake your cake the day before and store in the freezer so you can get right to the decorating part.
2) Kristine likes watching Cake Boss and thus will refer to the crumb coat as "dirty icing".

3) Leftover royal icing does not settle well in your stomach when eaten straight out of the bowl
4) Flour your counter in moderation lest your workstation becomes a winter wonderland
5) When eating your cake keep your fork ready and your eyes on your significant other...they will steal your last bite of cake right out from under your nose the minute you are distracted

6) Cake. Is. Wonderful.

Bread & Butter Pickles...A First Attempt

I made pickles! And to answer your question...no, that isn't the only thing I've made over the past month. In fact I have plans to barrage you with all the things I have not posted. But I'm starting with these pickles.

I've kinda always wanted to pickle and/or can things, but I was a little intimidated by the process. Then I watched someone make pickles on the Food Network. And it didn't seem so daunting. So I girded my loins (I hear that's what all the brave people do) and set to work.

First up I tangled with the deadly mandolin. Trepidation would be the word that comes to mind when I think of this sharp toothed kitchen gadget. Our relationship has been a rocky one and continues to be so. Yes, even the greatest caution still ends in mangled fingers. But it also produces super adorable (at least in my opinion) wavy discs of soon to be pickles.

Next I made the brine. It was much simpler (and safer) then the slicing part. This being my first go round I decided to buy pickling spice. Turns out the brand I bought had way too much coriander in it. I would find this out later. But for now, lets just say, next time I will be making my own pickling spice.

I really love pickles. They are one of my favourite things to snack on. I stand in front of the fridge and use my fingers to pull out little juicy morsels of deliciousness. This was my initial intention with my homemade batch. When they were ready I excitedly opened the jar, grabbed a couple perfect looking pickles, and popped them in my mouth. As I bit down my taste buds were assaulted with a not so bread and buttery flavour.

So it's sad to say that the pickles did not turn out as wonderful as I had hoped them to. They weren't bad, but neither were they fantastic. The only way I could eat them was stacked on top of some sloppy joes that I had made that day as well. I ended up offloading at least half of my pickles on my Mum who seemed to enjoy them more then I did. I just couldn't bare to see them wasted knowing that I wouldn't get through them all.

Although slightly disappointed with this batch, I am now determined to make a perfect snacking pickle. I may try the bread and butter ones again with my own spice combination. But I think my next batch will be of the dill pickle variety.

Stay tuned to find out how my next attempt turns out.

A Cake of Epic Proportion.

So I went a little AWOL from the internet over the holidays resulting in a major lag in posts...leaving my cookie extravaganza to fall a bit short. So I thought I would start the new year off by posting this cake.

Four heavenly high layers of devilishly deliciousness appropriately named...The Heaven & Hell Cake.

My darling friend Elizabeth had a birthday dinner party back in December. Her Mom made the most delicious food. Deep fried cauliflower, chickpea salad, pasta, chicken, ribs...I stuffed myself to the bursting point and still wanted to eat more! A few weeks before her party, I told her she could pick what kind of cake she wanted and I would make it. After some flip-flopping around she finally settled on the Heaven & Hell Cake. I think everyone was quite happy with her decision.

The above picture is the napkins they had at her party. The cute phrase on them "domestically disabled" prompts me to take a moment and talk layer cakes and how much I suck at making them. I never seem to have a problem making them taste good, but my layering and decorating skills still leave much to be desired. The cake layers always manage to be a little rough around the edges and slightly lopsided no matter how hard I try. Then, if I manage to do a decent enough icing job, once I try to add any writing or extra decorations it's all down hill from there. The good news though, is a part from myself, no one ever seems to mind.


Now back to this particular cake. A heaven and hell cake consists of two layers of devil's food cake, two layers of angel food cake with a super delightful layer of peanut butter mousse in between each layer. This is all topped off with a chocolate ganache icing. To put it succinctly it's simply to die for.

Since most people have a go to recipe for each of the cakes used I thought I would simply post the peanut butter mousse recipe (which coincidentally happens to be my favourite part of the cake ^_^).

Peanut Butter Mousse

• 4 Cups Smooth Peanut Butter
• 3 1/2 Cups Icing Sugar
• 3 Cups Cream Cheese at room temperature
• 1 1/2 Cups Heavy Cream

Beat peanut butter, sugar and cream cheese together until smooth. In a separate bowl whisk cream until stiff peaks form. Fold whipped cream into peanut butter mixture. Place in fridge until ready to use.

When making the cake start with the denser chocolate cake on the bottom and layer from there.

Enjoy!

December Cookie Extravaganza Part 5 - Jam Thumbprints

Jam Thumbprints are probably my favourite non-chocolate Christmas cookies. I always manage to eat a truck load of them every year under the premise of "hey at least there's fruit in these ones". It's a slippery slope my friends.


These lovelies are made with a pretty basic dough rolled into balls, dipped in egg whites, covered in walnuts, indented and baked.

Once cooled you fill the indent with jam (hence jam thumbprints). This year strawberry jam was used in place of the usual blueberry. They were almost as good^_^...but surely much better then the raspberry jam my Mum wanted to use.

Jam Thumbprint Cookies

• 2/3 cup butter; softened
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 slightly beaten egg whites
• 1 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 1/3-1/2 cup jam

In a large mixing bowl beat butter until creamy. Add half of the flour. Mix in egg yolks, sugar and vanilla until fully incorporated. Add remaining flour and mix well. Cover and chill for 1 hour.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Dip dough into the egg whites then roll in walnuts to coat. Place on a lined cookie sheet approximately 1-inch apart. Using your thumb, or the back of a wooden spoon, make an indent in each cookie.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes until edges are lightly browned (if indents lose definition push them back down when they come out of the oven). Cool on a wire rack. Once cooled fill with jam.

December Cookie Extravaganza Part 4 - S'more Bars

Chocolate, marshmallows and graham crackers...one of the best combinations of food ever. I realize that for most people s'mores are reserved for marshmallow roasts around campfires. But really how often do we get campfires? And I am a naturally impatient person with the tendency to crave that which is out of season. So I was VERY excited when I found this recipe (though I can't for the life of me remember where) for S'more Bars last year. Some of the excitement may have been heightened by the fact that I am still currently banned from using my s'more maker (yes I do own such a wonderous gadget - think fondue like apparatus), since I almost burned down my parents house the last time I attempted to use it.

The sad part about these is that I had a very hard time photographing them. They are so plan to look at and kind of blob-y that I feel my pictures don't properly portray how wonderful they are. So please make a batch so that you can get the full effect. Because, trust me, they are a fan favourite and don't last very long. In fact I believe it was these very bars that someone proposed marriage to me over last year (of course it was just a joke proposal) but that's got to say something for these little guys.

S'more Cookie Bars

• 1/2 cup butter; softened
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 king-sized chocolate bars
• 1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff
  

In a small bowl mix flour, salt, baking powder and graham crumbs, set aside. In a large bowl cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in vanilla and egg. Pour in flour mixture and blend until combined.

Grease an 8-inch square baking pan. Press half of dough mixture into bottom of pan. Place chocolate bars in a single layer on top of dough. Spread marshmallow fluff over chocolate. Spread remaining dough on by flattening small sections and placing them one by one on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely before cutting.

I store mine in an airtight container in the fridge then either let them come to room temperature or pop them in the toaster oven to get them all gooey when I want to eat them.

December Cookie Extravaganza Part 3 - Chocolate Chunk Snowballs

Next up to the plate for your baking and eating pleasure we have Chocolate Chunk Snowballs...

These are quick and easy to make. No rolling, molding weird shapes, cutting or any other such things. Just mix the ingredients, form into balls, bake, cool and toss into icing sugar. Now that's my kinda cookie!

Chocolate Chunk Snowballs

• 2 Cups Butter; softened
• 1 Cup Icing Sugar
• 3 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 Cup Cornstarch
• 6 Squares Bittersweet Chocolate; coarsely chopped
• 1 Cup Walnuts; coarsely chopped
• Icing sugar for dusting

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in flour & cornstarch until combined. Add in chocolate & walnuts.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls and place on a lined cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until lightly brown.

Cool completely on wire wrack. Toss in icing sugar to lightly coat.

Enjoy!

December Cookie Extravaganza Part 2 - Chocolate Thumbrints

Things got a little busy on the weekend so I wasn't able to post any new cookies. But it's a whole new week and I've got a gem to share with you...Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies.

When it comes to Christmas cookie baking, I have a list of my Mums tried and true recipes that I always use. But I also like to mix things up a little bit and try new things. Which is why when I saw these cookies on the Martha Stewart website I knew I had to give them a try. These delectable little morsels of chocolately goodness may be new to my repertoire, but I have a feeling they will have a recurring role in years to come.

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
(adapted from Martha Stewart recipe)

• 1 Cup Unsalted Butter; Softened
• 1 1/3 Cup Sugar (plus a little extra for rolling dough in)
  
• 2 Egg Yolks
• 2 TBSP Heavy Cream
• 2 TBSP Vanilla Extract
• 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 Cup & 1 TBSP Cocoa Powder
• 2 tsp salt
  
• Chocolate Vanilla-Bean Ganache *

In a small bowl mix together the flour, salt and cocoa powder. Set aside.

In a large bowl cream the sugar and butter until fluffy. Beat in cream, vanilla and egg yolks until well combined. Mix in dry ingredients.

Shape dough in balls using roughly 2 tsp of dough for each. Roll in sugar. Place onto lined cookie sheet about 1 inch apart. Using your finger or back of a wooden spoon push gently on the dough to form an indent.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until cookie is just set. Let cool slightly on sheet before transferring to wire rack.

Once completely cooled spoon warm ganache filling into centers. Let set 15 minutes. Store in airtight container.


*Chocolate Vanilla-Bean Ganache

• 1/3 Cup Heavy Cream
• 1/3 Cup Honey
• 1/2 Cup Bittersweet Chocolate; finely chopped
• 2 TBSP Unsalted Butter; softened & cut into pieces
• 1/2 A Vanilla Bean; Split & Scraped (reserve pod)

In a medium saucepan combine cream, honey, vanilla seeds & pod. Over medium heat bring mixture to a simmer, stirring until honey is melted. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 20 minutes.

Place chopped chocolate into a blender. Place cream mixture back onto stove and return to a simmer. Remove vanilla pods. Pour cream mixture over chocolate and let sit for 1 minute. Blend until mixture is smooth. Add butter and continue to blend until combined. Let cool slightly, then use immediately.